Bombs and means for holding and discharging them.



- 11B. McMULLEN.

BOMBS AND MEANS FOR HOLDING AND DISCHARGING THEM.

APPLICATION men AUG.31, 191s. 1,172,542, Patented Feb. 22, 1916.

, s SHEETS-SHEET 1.

J. B. McMULLEN.

v BOMBS AND MEANS FOR HOLDING AND DISCHARGING THEM.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.3I. I915.

Patented Feb. 22, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2- J. B. McMULLEN.

BOMBS AND MEANS FOR HOLDING AND DISCHARGING THEM.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.3l 1915. 1,172,542. Patented Feb. 22,1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

W/ 657 23 WJZm -J'OSEPH B. MCMULLEN, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

BOMBS AND MEANS FOR HOLDING AND DISCHARGING THEM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 22, 1916.

Application filed August 31, 1915. Serial No. 48,168.

' To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that. I, JOSEPH B. McMUL- LEN, a citizen of the United States, residing in Baltimore, Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bombs and Means for Holding and Discharging Them, of which the-following is a specification.

This invention relates particularly to bombs or shells suitable for use on aeroplanes and other air-crafts and to holders for such bombs which are so constructed as to retain them in safety first and until purposely or deliberately discharged at the will of the aeronaut. Some parts of my invention, however, are applicable to bombs which may be discharged from guns or mortars or'which may 'bein the form of grenades and delivered by hand. I will, however, describeparticularly bombs of suitable construction for being discharged from air-crafts-and will also describe suitable means for holding and discharging said bombs- In carrying out my invention I provide a shell .or bomb casing for containing a suitable explosive or suitable inflammable material and on one end of the casing I provide a. detonating sensitive fuse of a suitable kind for igniting the explosive or inflammable material when the firing pin strikes'the object aimed at. The firing pin is provided with a plurality of contact members to insure firing and this is protected by an inclosing casing which prevents accidental firing.

The rear end or tail of the bomb is provided with vanes for directing its flight and these are of improved construction, each set of vanes being attached at their inner ends to a ring which slides on the reduced rear portion of the bomb and these vanes when not in flight lie close to the bomb casing, but when the bomb is dropped the-ring with the vaiies slides rearward or upward until the ring comes in contact with a stop on the extreme upper or outer end of the bomb. During such upward or outward movement the vanes expand or spread to open position.

An important feature of the invention consists in the provision of means for holding and discharging simultaneously a plurality or group of bombs in order that the chances of hits may be increased. Preferably a number of bombs are placed in a container provided with a sliding door which holds them in condition to be placed in a holder provided with a trap door which, when opened, releases the bombs. The con tainer is provided with means for holding the upper or outer ends of the vanes until the trap door is opened,,at which time as the bombs drop the vanes are released and allowed to spread. The holder is adapted to be secured to a suitable part of the frame of the air-craft and is provided with a trap door having suitable fastening devices which. may be opened by the aeronaut at will. I may also arrange a plurality of bombs in a suitable container provided with a trap door and connect the container with a parachute in such a manner that when the container'and the parachute are thrown overboard the. latter will spread and the door automatically open and drop the bombs.

The accompanying drawings show some of the ways of embodying my invention.

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a portion of the frame of an air-craft with two holders for .two groups of bombsand their containers. Fig. 2 is a detail View showing particularly the trap door of one of the holders, its fastening devices and the way it supports the bombs. Fig. 3 is a detail view showing the position of the trap door and the spring catch after the bombs are released. Fig. 4 is a view partly in elevation and partly in section showing a bomb as it appears when in flight with the vanes spread. Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation showing a group of bombs packed within a container with the vanes collapsed. Fig. 6 is a detail view in section showing how the container illustrated in Fig. 5 is held in the holder shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 7 is a view partly in side elevation and partly in section showing one of the bombs shown in Fig. 5 as it appears when in flight. Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the two-part protector for the firing pin. Fig. 9 is a detail sectional view showing how the firing pin is locked by a pin before it is placed in the container. Fig. 10 shows a longitudinal vertical section of a container for-a group of bombs of modified construction. Fig. 10 shows a transverse section through a sliding door or-closure for the container shown in Fig. 10. Fig. 11 shows a transverse section on the line 1111 of Fig. 10. Fig. 12 shows a side elevation of a parachute from which is suspended a bomb container. Fig. 13 is a detail view showing the fastening devices for the trap door of the container shown in Fig. 11.

In Fig. 1 A indicates a part of the frame of the air-craft such as the center part, B the bomb holders and C a groupof bombs. Before describing the construction and operation of the holders, I will explain the construction of the bombs with special reference to Figs. 5 to 9. Each bomb comprises a shell or casing c, on one end of which is a fuse of suitable form. The firing pin d has a stem D sliding in a screw plug d and a head 61 provided with a plurality of arms or contact members so formed that when the head strikes an object the pin will be operated with greater certainty, A pin E, Fig. 9, serves to connect the firing pin with the screw plug when the bomb is in storage and before it is mounted ready for use. After being placed in a container with the pin E removed, the head of the firing pin is protected by a two-part case F. The upper or outer end of the bomb is provided with vanes G. These may be made of sheet metal having resiliency, their inner ends being at tached to a ring 9 which isadapted to slide on the reduced rear or upper portion of the bomb casing. Normally the ring rests against a gasket g. The top or outer end of the bomb casing is closed as shown at a and to this top portion of the casing is riveted a cap 0 having a tapered flange a embracing the outer end of the bomb casing. This flange is adapted to enter the tapered recess 9 of the ring 9 in the manner hereinafter described. When the bomb drops the ring 9 and .the vanes carried thereby move to the outer end of .the' bomb and spread laterally in the manner indicated in Fig. 7, the ring 9 and the flange 0 being then interlocked as shown. The gasket 9" may be used to hold the wings in their 001- lapsed condition when the bomb is separated from its container in which case the gasket would be slipped upward to the outer ends of the vanes, but when the bombs are placed in a container the gaskets occupy the position shown in Figs. 5 and 7, the outer ends of the vanes being held by other devices.

An important feature of my invention consists in providing means for simultaneously dropping a group of bombs in order that the chances of hitting the desired object or objects may be increased. In carrying out this part of my invention I provide a container K adapted toreceive a plurality of bombs, say from 2 to'20, and this container may serve to retain agroup of in position for use.

bombs in storage or until ready to be placed The container shown in Fig. 5 has a sliding door k on which rest the firing pin-protectors F. At its oppo-' the side door I) and the trap door B.

and the caps are made to embrace the outer ends of the vanes, then the group of bombs with the caps and the plate is shoved into the container and then the plate is secured to the end of the container as indicated at Z. After this the door In is closed.

W indicates a handle by means of which the bomb-holding container may be carried.

'As will be hereinafter described when the bomb holding container is mounted in one of the holders shown in Fig. 1 the door k is withdrawn. As before stated before plac ing the bombs in the container, the safety pinsE are removed and the firing pins are protected by the two-part casings F.

Each bomb-holding container may b placed in a holder, such as B, Fig. 1, which is provided with a trap door B. Instead of employing aprotector of the kind shown in Fig. 8, I may use one of the kind shown in Fig. 1. This consists of blocks of wood F having recesses to receive the heads of the firing pins and separated from each other in such manner that when the bombs are dropped the blocks separate from the firing pins which are then in a sensitive conditlon.

Each holder B, shown in Fig. 1, .comprises a box having a side'door b hinged at its upper end at b and a trap door B normally held closed by a spring catch N. This catch is provided with a safety fastener 11. by means of which the catch is held firmly in locked 1position, but when the holder is prepared or attack the safety pin is loosened so that the catch may be operated to reits own weight, or it may have spring hinges b The side door I) may be held in closed position by suitable fastening devices 0, and the holder may be supported on the frame of the air-craft by slotted brackets P. In placing a bomb-holding container in one of the boxes B it is preferable to open both The container is laid down in the'box and then the sliding door 7.: is withdrawn, the protectors F or F being first applied to the heads of the firing pins. After this the doors may be closed and the box turned to bring the trap door at the bottom. The'apparatus is then in condition for use, the

.safety device 11. being at this time released and the door is held by the spring catch N.

release the trap door and the .bombs will drop by their own weight. In doing so the protectors F will detach themselves from the heads of the firing pins and will scatter. The bombs first slide through the rings 9 and these rings interlock with the flanges 0 As the bombs further descend the vanes will be drawn downward and as soon as they leave the container they will spread and insure the accuracy of flight.

While I prefer to use a container such as shown in Fig. 5, it is possible to dispense with it; for instance as shown in'Fig. 2 the bombs are mounted directly within the box- B, the protectors F being preferably in the form of blocks as shown and resting on the trap door. It will be observed that the box is formed with a recess 9. This is adapted to receive a spring catch Q on the container. In this way when the trap door B is opened the bombs will drop but the container will remain in the box.

The construction of the bomb may be varied in many ways. In Fig. 4 I have shown the shell'or casing divided into sections by grooves. This is for the purpose of more widely distributing portions of the bomb after explosion.

In Fig. 10 I have shown a modified form of container In this case the outer shell or casing K is provided at its lower end with a sliding door r and it incloses a group of tubes R which. are closed at their upper ends and riveted as shown to a plate 1- which is in turn riveted to the closed upper end of the casing. These tubes serve to guide the vanes when the bomb descends. When tubes such as shown in Figs. 10 and Marc employed the protectors F, shown in Fig. 8, should of course be made circular. Instead of attaching boxes or holders to the frame of the aircraft, I may employ a parachute S and connect it with a bomb-holding container T.

The parachute may be folded and stored with. the holder in the air-craft and when occasion requires thrown overboard. As soon as it spreads and rights itselfa connection between the parachute and the trap door of the casing causes the latter to open and the bombs descend in the manner before described. Preferably the organization is as follows: The container T may be similar to that shown in Fig. 5, but it is provided with a hinged door t normally held closed by a catch U operating in a housing U. A safety lockingpin U may be used to so lock the catch that it cannot be operated, out the catch is connected by means of a cord or wire V with the parachute. The cord or wire passes over guide pulleys o and the arrangement is such that as soon as the parachute is righted a strain will be placed on the cord V which will release the catch U when the door t will fly open'and the bombs will be released. W indicates a handle by means of which the bomb-holding container may be carried and it is obvious that the parachute may be folded and attached to the container so as to make a compact package.

I claim as my invention:

1. A bomb provided at one end with a firing pin provided with an enlarged head having a series of radially extending arms formed with a plurality of downwardly extending contact points.

2. A bomb, provided at one end with a firing-pin plug a firing pin mounted to move longitudinally in said plug and provided with an enlarged head having a plurality of downwardly extending contact points, and a protector for the head of the firing pin made in separable sections interposed between said head and the outer end of the screw plug.

3. A bomb, provided with a guiding device consisting of a ring mounted to slide longitudinally on the bomb and a series of sheet metal resilient vanes attached to the ring adapted to lie close together parallel with the longitudinal axis of the bomb and to expand laterally therefrom.

4:. A bomb, provided at one end with. a cap having a tapered flange, and a guiding device for the bomb comprising a ring having a tapered recess adapted to receive the tapered flange of the cap and mounted to slide longitudinally on the bomb, and resilient sheet metal vanes attached to the ring normally tending to spread outward diagonally from the axis of the bomb but adapted to lie close together parallel with the bomb axis.

5. The combination with a bomb provided with automatically expansible vanes of a container having a doorat one end, and means at the opposite end of the container for holding the vanes in a collapsed condition while the door is closed.

6. The combination with a bomb provided with automatically expansible vanes of a container having a sliding door at one end,

and a cap at the opposite end of the con-' 8. The combination with a bomb provided 7 with automatically expansible vanes which move endwise on the bomb, a container provided at one end with means for holding the vanes in a collapsed condition and at the other end with a door which retains the vanes in said holding means and which when opened allows the bomb to move endwise relatively to the vanes to then release the vanes from their holding means and subsequently allow them to automatically spread to active position.

9. The combination with a plurality of bombs of a container in which the bombs are arranged and firing-pin protectors supported within the container and each of which is made in separable sections loosely attached to the firing pin.

10. The combination'with a plurality of bombs of a container in which the bombs are arranged and which is provided with a door at its lower end, and sectional firingpin protectors supported on the door of the container and which when the door is opened separate from the firing pins.

11. The combination with a plurality of bombs of a container therefor having a removable door at one end, a box or holder for the container provided with a trap door, a catch for holding the container within the box, a fastening for the trap door, and

means for operating it to permit the bombs to drop from the container while the latter is held by its catch in the box.,

12. The combination with a plurality of bombs of a container therefor having a rethe opposite end for holding the vanes in collapsed condition, abox or holder for the container provided with a trap door, a catch for holding the container in. the box, a fastening for the trap door, and means for operating said fastening.

In testimony whereof, I .have hereunto subscribed my name. v

J OSEPH B. McMULLEN. Witnesses:

EMIL GATHMANN, FRANK B. SMITH. 

